Dry closet.



D. E. FITZGERALD.

- DRY CLOSET.

APPLIOATIQN FILED SBPT. 16, 1910.

1,014,213, Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

22 22 WWI/Imam -E.F0 ZZGE7'QZOZ/ D. E. FITZGERALD.

DRY CLOSET. I

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1910.

1,014,213, Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL E. FITZGERALD, 0F SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0CHARLES lVL TAYLOR, 0F SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA.

DRY CLOSET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9,1912.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, DANIEL E. FITZGER- ALD, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Shawnee, in the county of Pottawatomie and State ofOklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DryClosets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dry closets and the object of the invention isgenerally to provide a dry closet of an exceedingly convenient formwhich is peculiarly adapted to prevent the conveyance of disease byflies or other insects.

The primary obj cot of the invention is to provide a dry closet which isso sealed both when in use or when not in use that it is impossible forflies or other insects to visit the fecal or other matter contained inthe receiver. Further, to provide a dry closet in which the receiver isnormally sealed except at the moment of raising or lowering the lid.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bowl or hopper of thecloset with a completely rotatable trap valve which is so connected withthe seat cover that when the lid or cover is raised the trap valve isrotated from an inverted to a receiving position and in which it isreturned to its inverted position when the lid is closed, the trap valvehaving such relative dimensions that when it is in its receiving orinverted position it will completely close the lower end of the hopperor bowl and thus completely cut off communication between the outer airand the receiver.

A still further object is to provide a construction of this kind with abowl or hopper which is hinged to the floor or platform of the closet sothat it may be raised out of its engagement with the neck of thereceiver, thus permitting the receiver to be easily sealed and removed,and a new receiver to be put in place.

A still further object is to provide the receiver with a novel form ofclosure whereby the closure may be closed down tightly into the neck ofthe receiver to prevent the passage of any germs into the air when thereceiver is removed.

Other objects of theinvention will appear in the course of the followingdescription.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and toacquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to behad to the following description and accompanying drawings, in-

which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved closet, partly in section.Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the closet and the bowl. Fig. 3 is asection through the casing of the bowl showing the lid and trap in oneposition. Fig. 1 is a like view showing the lid and trap in anotherposition. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section of theneck of the bowl or hopper. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the tank orreceiver with the closure therefor locked in position.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates a room, building, privy, or likestructure preferably isolated and provided with a floor 3 which israised above the ground line 41:- This privy is provided with a door 5and steps 6 upon which the door opens, these steps leading to the floor3. The floor 3 is cut away as at 7 to provide a rearwardly extendingrelatively wide slot through which the neckof the receiver and the neckof the bowl or hopper extend, as will be later described.

The bowl or hopper 8 may be of any suitable construction and form, andmay be supported in any suitable manner so that it has a hingedengagement with the floor, permitting the hopper or bowl to be turneddownward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, or turnedupward to its normal position. As shown, the bowl or hopper 8 isinclosed within the box-like casing 9, provided with the base-piece 10,which base-piece is hinged at 11 to the floor, the hinges being disposedon each side of the slot 7. The other end of the base-piece 10 is free.The lid 12 is supported upon the upper end of the hopper or supportedupon the frame 9. This lid is hinged at its rear end as at 13. Attachedto the seat and projecting out therefrom is an arm 14:, and pivoted inany suitable support upon the neck 15 of the hopper 8 is a lever 16,which at its outer end is connected to the arm 14: by a pivoted link 17.The lever 16 is provided at its inner end with a sector gear 18 whichengages with a pinion 19 on a trunnion 20 of the valve 21. This valve iscircular in plan and is concavo convex. The valve is normally disposedin a horizontal plane transverse to the neck and normally the concavoside of the valve is downward. When, however, the seat is elevated, thearm 14 will be depressed, depressing the lever 16 and causing the sectorgear thereof to rotate the pinion 19 and thus rotate the trap valve 21so as to turn it into a position where its concave side is upward.

The neck 15 of the bowl or hopper projects down below the floor 3 as at22 and is slightly beveled on its outside face or is inwardly contractedso as to fit into the upwardly flared neck 23 of a receiver 24. Thisreceiver preferably has the form of a tank or can having an inwardlycontracted upper portion, provided with the upwardly and outwardlyflared neck 23. The receiver 24 is located in a position immediatelybeneath the bowl and in order to permit the receiver to be placed in itsproper registered position I provide the ground line or floor 4 with anysuitable stop 25 against which the receiver normally abuts, this stop 25being concave on one edge so as to conform to the curvature of thereceiver. The lid or cover 12 is also provided with a downwardlyprojecting arm 26 which acts as a stop when the lid or cover is raisedto prevent its movement to a vertical position, the arm 26 contactingwith the rear face of the frame 9. It will be seen that the lid can notbe held open unless the closet is in use.

In order to permit the receiver 24 to be removed, I provide the rear ofthe privy or outhouse with the door 27 which is hinged at its upper endso as to permit it to be moved upward to permit the receiver to be drawnout. The slot 7 permits the casing 9 to be raised or tilted over so asto disengage the lower end 22 of the bowl from the mouth of thecontainer 24. If it were not for this slot it would be necessary for theperson moving the. container to enter the front of the privy and tiltthe casing. 9 up. By means of the slot 7, however, an implement may bereadily inserted from the rear ofthe privy for this purpose. In order tosecure this operation it is advisable that the slot be set in line withand rearwardly of the hinge 11. By hinging the casing 9 to v.the floorof the privy the bowl .may be readily raised in such a position as to beeasilycleaned, this position also permitting the trap to be easilycleaned. This receiver hasthe form of a circular tank the mouth of whichis closed by a stopper 28 having beveled side faces adapted to fit theflared open mouth of the receiver. The, face of the stopper has theoutwardly projecting flange 29 and is also provided. withthe upwardlyextending arcuatelrib 30, this rib being] formed with a tooth or stop]at its middle.

Attached to the neck 23 of the receiver in any suitable manner as by theears 32, is a locking bail 33, this bail being adapted to turn up into avertical position and engage with the arcuate edge of the rib 30. It isto be,noted that the arcuate edge of the rib 30 is not concentric to thepivotal axis in the bail 33 and hence as this bail is turned upward itengages with the arcuate edge and clamps the stopper securely in place.The stopper is provided with a flexible connection 34 whereby it isattached in any suitable manner to the receiver. While I'have shown thisreceiver as being made of metal, I wish it distinctly understood that itmay be made of other materials and have any other form beside thatshown. It is essential, however, that the mouth of the receiver shouldbe adapted to receive and fit snugly against the downwardly extendingend of the neck 15 so that when the receiver is in position immediatelybeneath the bowl, there will be what is practically a sealed jointbetween the receiver and the bowl.

The advantages of my invention are as follows: It will be noted that atno time does the tank or container 24 communicate with the outside airfor the reason that the trap valve 21 extends, in its normal position,transversely across the neck 15 and closes the same when the closet 1sbeing used. The trap valve also closes any pasits It will be seen thatthe container or receiver 24 can be. sealed by the insertion of thestopper immediately after it has been disconnected from the neck 15 andthe receiver or tank can be moved at any time, day or night, withoutconnecting the tank with the open air except at the instant when thestopper is being applied and, therefore, Without any unpleasant odorarising there from.

metal or some material which is not porous, no fecal refuse can soaklnto the ground and thus 1nto wells. I

Inasmuch as the tank is to be madeof V 1 20 While I might use awaterconnection to 7 this closet, I have found in practiceithat it staysclean and uncontaminated without'any necessity for water connection. 1Of course, quick lime, disinfecting material, or 'dry' 7 earth might beused in connection with this closet, although I have not'lfound itnecessary.

It will be obvious that where the apparatus is adopted the village ortown in which it is used, by having a number of surplus containers 24,can collect these containers from the closets at regular intervals andsupply fresh containers thereto. These containers can be easily removed,placed upon carts and carried to any suitable dumping place where thecontents can be burned or otherwise treated.

The system thus devised is very much better than the bucket system whichis ordinarily used in colonies for the cure of tuberculosis.Furthermore, this apparatus does away with the necessity of diggingadditional vaults after the vault immediately beneath the closet hasbeen filled up. This system is, therefore, much more economical inoperation than other systems known to me and may be relatively cheaplyinstalled.

The system is particularly adapted for small towns and villages where asewerage system has not been installed and where recourse must be hadtherefore, to cess pools and dry closets.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new is:

1. In a closet of the character described, a supporting platform, saidplatform-being provided with a slot, a container located beneath theplatform and provided with an upwardly extending neck registering withthe slot, and a bowl hinged to the platform forward of the slot andhaving a neck in alinement with the slot and engaging the neck of thecontainer to form an air tight joint therewith.

2. In a closet of the character described, an inclosing casing, asupporting platform of the slot and having a neck in alinement with theslot to engage the neck of the container to form an air-tight jointtherewith,

the platform in front of the bowl having an area sufficient to supportthe bowl when in its turned down position, the rear of the casing beingprovided with a door located beneath the platform, whereby the containermay be removed.

3. In a closet of the character described, a supporting platformprovided with a rearwardly extending slot, a container located beneaththe platform and provided with an upwardly extending neck registeringwith the slot, a bowl hinged to the platform forward of the slot andhaving a neck projecting down through said slot and into engagement withthe neck of the container to form a joint therewith, a cover closing thebowl, a valve located within the neck of the bowl and normally closingthe same, and a connection between the cover and the valve whereby whenthe cover is raised the valve is rotated to a receiving position andwhen the cover is lowered the valve is rotated to a dischargingposition.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL E. FITZGERALD. [L. 8.] Witnesses:

W. F. MGMANUS, C. F. LOY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

